Welded Bearing Sleeve Wishbone With Angled Guide Plate Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing control arms in automotive engineering face challenges in achieving a lightweight, easy-to-manufacture design while maintaining high durability and improved crash performance, often resulting in increased production costs due to multiple component joining and residual stresses.
Innovation Solution
A one-piece sheet metal control arm with integrated bearing receptacles and a guide plate, featuring a receiving opening and a guide plate that are angled relative to the base body plane, allowing for easy assembly and reduced bending stresses, and a positive-locking support mechanism to enhance durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If control arms are designed with strong and stable structure to meet high stresses, then durability and safety are improved, but weight increases leading to increased energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The control arm combines sheet metal base body with bearing receptacles made from different materials (cast or milled components), creating a composite structure that optimizes both strength and weight. The bearing receptacles use materials with exceptionally high strength to reduce overall weight while maintaining durability under high stresses.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the control arm have different material properties and structural characteristics. The bearing mounting areas use cast or milled components with high strength, while the base body uses sheet metal, creating local quality variations that optimize both weight and durability in specific high-stress regions.
2Weight of moving object
If control arms use cast or milled components connected to sheet steel base for weight optimization, then weight is reduced, but production costs increase due to joining multiple components
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing receptacles are integrated directly into the sheet metal base body through bending and folding operations, merging what would otherwise be separate components into a single-piece construction. This eliminates the need for joining operations, reducing production costs while maintaining the weight benefits of using different materials in different regions.
3Strength
If bearing receptacles are formed by bending sheet metal at angles close to perpendicular, then structural strength is improved, but bending residual stresses increase negatively impacting durability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the bending angle parameter from close to perpendicular (90 degrees) to a more oblique angle, creating a deliberate deviation that reduces bending residual stresses. This parameter change maintains sufficient structural strength while significantly improving durability by reducing stress concentrations in the bearing receptacle regions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design reduces production costs and residual stresses, improving durability under continuous loading and crash conditions, while maintaining structural integrity and ease of manufacturing.
Implementation Method 1
The bearing sleeve is welded to the receiving opening, at least in part
Implementation Method 2
The guide plate is also preferably welded to the bearing sleeve, at least partially, by spot welding or partially by radial welding
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a wishbone (1) for arrangement on an axle of a motor vehicle, wherein the wishbone (1) has a base body region (2) which is produced as a one-piece sheet metal component from a sheet metal blank, and the base body region (2) has three bearing regions (3, 4, 5) formed thereon, wherein the base body region (2) has two arms and a base body plane (7) is spanned by the arms, and a base body region (2) has a one-piece and uniformly material bearing receptacle in a bearing region (4), which has a receiving opening (9) located in an opening plane (10) which is substantially perpendicular to the base body plane, wherein a bearing sleeve (L) is inserted into the receiving opening (9) and welded at least in sections, characterized in that in the bearing region (4) a guide plate is formed in one piece and of uniform material with the base body region (2),wherein the guide plate (11) has a contour (12) adapted in sections to the outer contour (13) of the bearing sleeve (L) for receiving the bearing sleeve (L).